Subscribe!

After our morning in Solvang, we decided to make the short drive over to Los Olivos. The husband and I were told that most of the wineries in the area had their tasting rooms along the main street. When we got there, we noticed that practically every shop along this 500yd street was a wine tasting room. O_O Oh dear…

Los Olivos - Cheese Plate

After a couple of hours of tasting, it was decided that I needed to get something solid in me to counteract the effects of the wine. Since we had plans to go to dinner, we just wanted a little nibble. We stubbled into a little restaurant and ordered a cheese plate. This was a nice little snack – grapes, diced dried apricots, peanuts and a variety of cheese ranging from Swiss to a mild Blue. It was served with garlic crostinis which were absolutely addicting. Crunchy, incredibly flavorful, I chowed down on these the most.

It was a bad thing eating so many crostinis because I was still full a couple of hours later when the other half decided it was time for dinner since everything was starting to close down in Los Olivos.

Los Olivos - Brothers Restaurant Sign

We ventured over to Brothers Restaurant at Mattie’s Tavern. The building housing the restaurant is a historical one, having once been the stagecoach stop for the town.

We were greeted by a friendly hostess and quickly seated in a side room. We noticed the bar area was filled with people and quite a few tables were occupied. Guess this place is pretty popular.

At this point, I was starting to feel a little ill. I think the combination of heat and wine hit me hard. Nothing on the menu was appealing to me because of this and the still-full stomach (darn those yummy crostinis). I decided something light and cool would be in order so I opted for their Chinese Chicken Salad while the husband went with the top sirloin, well-done.

Brothers Restaurant - Chinese Chicken Salad

Brothers Restaurant - Top Sirloin

While we were waiting, a plate with several breads was delivered along with butter. There was an herb foccacia, a regular white bread and a cheese biscuit roll. I nibbled a little bit on these and they were all good and served warm. The cheese biscuit roll was my favorite.

Our entrees arrived and at this point, I couldn’t really do much other than rearrange pieces of lettuce on the plate. Bummer as this salad was quite tasty looking – Napa cabbage mixed with what looked like romaine lettuce, big chunks fo chicken, black and regular sesame seeds and crispy strips of wonton all tossed in a spicy wasabi vinegarette. Dan’s steak looked really good as well, topped with a garlic butter. The mashed potatoes were creamy and fluffy. The beans and peppers looked liked they were fresh (of course, my husband completely ignored them). The steak was cooked to order; the small bite I took was well-seasoned and despite being too over-cooked for my preference (I like medium-rare/medium), was still tender and moist.

We had my salad boxed to go and later that night when I felt okay again, I chowed down on it. When the menu stated spicy, I didn’t think much of it. However, this salad had quite the wasabi kick to it. I felt it in my nose… It was too much and masked some of the flavors. A good salad that could have been great if not for the heavy hand when it came to the spiciness.

The service was perfect and our waiter was friendly and attentive. As for the cost, it was reasonable given the quality of the food. It’s one of those places that you go to for a “nice” meal without breaking the bank.